Great Director

Joel Coen & Ethan Coen

10-13-2010

Most of the time during the “Great Directors” feature I will feature a director whose body of work is noteworthy, but in this instance I have to write an article for two men at once. This is simply because Joel Coen and Ethan Coen are so inseparable in their vision, that to write about one and not the other would be a disgrace. Nicknamed “The Two Headed Director” by many who’ve worked with them, they received this nickname because someone can go up to either director with a question and get the same answer (without the discussing it with the other). For many years though Joel received the sole credit for the directing, while they switched screen writing credit. But for over twenty years these two men have both directed, written, and edited their films together as a single entity.

They are also quite versatile, making dark dramas, ludicrous comedies, and sometimes making movies that blur the line between the two genre’s. Their films explore themes of death, irony, and dream-like realities. One person dies in every film. They find wit and sarcasm in most of their dialog. For many of their most popular films the scenery becomes a character itself. Take for example the snow filled landscape in “Fargo” or the deserted dessert in “No Country For Old Men.” In both example the scenery plays a huge role in your feelings of isolation and desperation in an unusual situation. In “The Big Lebowski” and “Burn After Reading” the Coen brothers contemplate huge situations with irony.

The irony being that the protagonists of the film have little to do with the conflict at hand, and that the conflict itself is a big deal only in the sense that everyone is making it a big deal, but taken on it’s own terms is really about nothing in particular. In fact, one of the reasons many people don’t like the Coen brothers is because they seem to gleefully make movies that are cryptic in nature to the average viewer. The best example is with their most recent film “A Serious Man,” where the movie seemingly ends abruptly without any resolution to speak of. This would in fact be a lie. If you could figure out the inspiration for the source material, and looked at it from a spiritual point of view, then the Coen’s actually give you all you need to figure out what the ending means.

Others have complained movies like “Barton Fink” end on a definitive ending, but that questions still linger (like what’s in the mysterious box). The Coens don’t feel that everything needs to have an answer. Like life, some things are just there to be there, and wouldn’t affect your life either way. It’s these elements that make a Coen brothers film almost instantly recognizable. I say almost because they have made movies that are so goofy, so ludicrous, so plain looking that on the surface they might not look like they have any artistic merit at all. Part of the reason the Coens are loved by many though is that they don’t like being showered with praise. They do appear at award shows when they are invited, but they prefer making movies.

Talk to them and they’ll recount the days of them filming movies in their backyard sandbox, and how they never really outgrew that phase of their life. That may be true, but thankfully their sandbox skills went beyond their backyard so we could see some of the results ourselves. I consider a couple of their films to be personal favorites of mine. They remind people that movies can be more then popcorn entertainment, they can challenge your mind and sensibilities. That said, if you do simply want popcorn entertainment, they can provide that for you as well.

Cream of the Crop
(In alphabetical particular order)

If there was an example of the Coens theme of "insolation" and "loneliness" this is one of the first films you'd watch. Written in three weeks time to reflect their frustrations of having difficultly writing "Millar's Crossing," "Barton Fink is a masterpiece. Though the Coens used symbology before (and will likely use it again), never before has it been as present as it has been here. From Hitchcock tributes, to the weird color scheme, to preordaned events, "Bartin Fink" is a tough nut to crack. It doesn't always make the most sense, but it's always facinating and the acting is superb. Though it was not nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards it did win the prestidge Palm d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Special mention goes to John Goodman in one of his best supporting roles in his career.

Though there was some mild controversy surrounding the violence of this film and the claim that it was based off true events (it wasn't), "Fargo" is an excellent example of the Coens use of settings as a character itself. The bright snow backgrounds provide the background setting, and before the movie is over several of those landscapes will be covered in blood. The movie is also a perfect example of the Coen using a heavy dose of irony, as a fake kidnapping turns horribly violent as a result of someone not getting a simple phone call. This was the Coens first Best Picture nomination at the Academy Awards. It lost to "The English Patient" (another good movie...but WAY different in tone).

If you want an example of the Coen brothers twisted sense of humor then "The Hudsucker Proxy" is a great place to start. This is brilliant comedy about a down-on-his-luck civilian who is plucked up to become the CEO of a large corporation. The idea is this guy will fail at running the company and bring it to ruin. Thus allowing the previous CEO to step aside and save face. Imagine their surprise though when it turns out the plucked man might actually be a genious, where drawn circle, after drawn circle provides the company with it's biggest successes in years. One of the great examples of unlikely situations turning into brilliant comedy.

The movie that finally won the Coens their Best Picture and Director Oscars, "No Country For Old Men" is about as bleak and vague as it comes. The story of a man stumbling across a small fortune by total accident sounds like a slapstick comedy, but it sets the tone for one of the most violent cat-and-mouse movies in history. Because where there is lost money there is a bounty hunter ready to collect. This all leads up to an ending so crypting and surprising that it will most likely take the viewer more than one viewing to comprehend exactly what just happened. Make no mistake though that this was one of the most daring films in years, and will be an acclaimed classic for many years to come.

If any movie shows just how funny the Coens can be it's "Raizing Arizona." I'm fearful to give away any of the details to the story for fear that it might spoil some of the fun, so I'll just sum it with this sentence: Relationship dsyfunctionality...Coen brothers style. That should be all the recommendation you need.

Turd In The Potpourri

I had to debate this one a little because the Coens have failed pretty spectacularly on a couple of occasions, but I think "The Ladykillers" is easily their biggest misfire. It's a remake of a Peter Sellers classic that was funny mainly because it was subdued. In the remake though everyone is overacting. EVERYONE!!! There is very little flair, Tom Hanks looks and sounds horrible, and the movie has little substance. It's also a shame that one character has so many four and twelve letter words in what could have easily been a good PG-rated family film (only one character is vulger). What's probably most sad though is that this is the first time the brothers were allowed to share directing credits (before Joel was the sole creditor). Thankfully their follow-up, "No Country For Old Men," would be a more then satifying apology to the world.